HomeLife Recipes: Picnic Perfect

Fill your basket and head outside for lunch or dinner and you’ll have it made in the shade.

Are the dog days of summer over? Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, fix some food that will travel, find a shady spot, and enjoy an old-fashioned picnic. Picnics are enjoyed best with family and friends, and these dishes are sure to please. Add a fruit salad and a Frisbee® to make it a picture-perfect day.

Tuna Salad

Contributed by Earline Campbell – “When our daughters were small, I would make tuna salad, grab a bag of potato chips and cokes, and we would have picnics. Now that we’re retired, I still make it and my husband and I eat it at campgrounds when we travel.”

Directions
Peel potatoes and cut into 1-2 inch cubes. Put potatoes and eggs in a pot and add water to cover. Bring to a boil. Cover pot and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook about 20 minutes. Drain potatoes and eggs. Peel eggs and cut into small pieces. Put chopped vegetables in serving bowl. Add cooked potatoes, chopped egg, and mayonnaise. Drain tuna fish and stir into ingredients in bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Kitchen Tip
Serve on a lettuce leaf and sprinkle with chopped pimientos for added color.

Directions
Combine the lime juice, cumin, and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to blend. Slowly add the olive oil, whisking constantly. Set aside. Combine the beans, vinegar, and pepper (to taste) in a medium bowl. Mix well and set aside. Bring four cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the quinoa. Reduce heat to medium low and cook covered for 10-12 minutes, or until the water has been absorbed. Remove from heat and cool for 15-30 minutes. Place the cooled quinoa in a separate bowl and fluff with a fork. Add the chopped peppers, corn, cilantro, and bean mixture and fold together. Add the dressing and toss gently to blend. Serve immediately or keep in refrigerator for 2-3 days.

Kitchen Tip
If you don’t have Garbanzo beans, use two cans of black beans instead.

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat a 10-inch tube or Bundt pan with cooking spray and set aside. In large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat together butter and cream cheese until well mixed. Beat in sugar and vanilla until well blended. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Gradually add flour, beating until uniform. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake one hour and 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Let cake cool 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Kitchen Tip
Cooking spray with flour in it makes a dense cake come out easily, especially from a nonstick Bundt pan.
Dust with powdered sugar after the cake has cooled.

Pantry List
eggs, flour, salted butter, sugar, vanilla extract

Shopping List
cream cheese

This article originally appeared in HomeLife Magazine. HomeLife is looking for family-friendly, budget-conscious, original recipes from readers like you. Simply email us your recipe, name and contact info to homelife@lifeway.com. We will pay $25 for each recipe that is printed. We regret that mailed submissions cannot be accepted. Recipes become the property of HomeLife and may be edited prior to publication. Share your recipe with HomeLife!

Yum! I would love to go on a picnic – when our temps aren’t high 90’s every day in Dallas!

The recipes look wonderful!

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1 year ago

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